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1/48 Seafire XV, 1946, 806 Sqn (Hobbycraft)


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Welcome to my first WIP on the forum. I'm a student modeller who's been modelling for much of my life but haven't done much forum posting. My general modelling philosophy is 'cheap and cheerful'. Although I think it's fun to make a model as accurate as possible, I can leave super detailing to those who can afford the expensive kits and PE sets whilst I chug along with whatever cheap plastic is available. 

 

This subject is a kit I picked up for just £8 recently in Halifax Modellers World. With so many of the model shops of my childhood now closed it was lovely to find such a great shop open and busy on my visit to the city. 

 

The Hobbycraft kit was cheap for a reason. The recessed panel lines and overall fit seem OK, but throughout, detail is a little soft. The decals are completely unusable; they're completely out of register and are extremely limited anyway. No stencils or details; just the basic insignia. So I've tracked down a scheme which I'll be able to reproduce without purchasing a decal sheet (remember my 'cheap' modelling philosophy - I'd rather spend the money on more kits!). I've turned up this rather handsome aircraft:

015129.png?seek=1

These plans come from the rather more expensive Special Hobby kit of the same aircraft. I think it is rather handsome, and I have a soft spot for FAA subjects, having grown up visiting Yeovilton's Fleet Air Arm museum and its fantastic model show (RIP :(). 

 

To recreate this scheme, I'm going to use a new tool for me - a circle cutter - to create masks to paint those roundels. I've got some appropriate numbers left on a decal sheet. I might also have a go at masking some stencil detailing, such as the black lines on the wings. So this whole project could go wrong quickly! Unfortunately, I actually sold a perfect set of decals for this aircraft on ebay 6 months ago, but I got almost enough to cover the costs of the kit for them, so hey ho.

 

I'll post some pictures of the kit, and interior work so far, a little later in the day. 

 

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You've chosen a very good looking scheme to apply to what is, I think, the best looking Seafire/Spitfire of them all...

Exactly as you say, the Hobbycraft kit goes together well, but is rather basic in certain areas. In particular I seem to remember the undercarriage being very crude (and a bit too long?) and there were very few panel lines forward of the bulkhead between cockpit and engine?

I'd say it is an excellent kit to hone a few new skills on, like scribing and some scratch detailing - which makes the finished result all the more satisfying...

Enjoy - I'm sure you will make a great job of it.

Nick.

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It was all going so well...

 

Thanks for the good wishes chaps. It turns out, I'll need some good luck on this.

 

This was one of those builds that came together very quickly. 2 hours ago, I had a glued together spitfire - interior in, wings on, ready for sanding. 

Until, that is, I took another look at the canopy...

S0ryPum.jpg

Now, to me, this does not look like a spitfire canopy! I've not measured it, but to the eye, this looked wrong. I must say it fit the Hobbycraft fuselage very snugly.

 

I pondered what to do... I've got a 1/48 Airfix Spitfire Vb (the new one), which comes with several 'spare' canopies. I can use the rounded canopy that came with said kit, which comes in two halves. However, mounting this Airfix piece straight onto the Hobbycraft fuselage wasn't going to work; the shape is completely wrong. Hobbycraft made their cockpit area very long compared to other 1/48 spits. Either I was going to have to use the front, triangular part from the Hobbycraft kit and mate it the back half of the Airfix canopy, or completely re-build the plane's nose.

 

At first, I took a knife to the Hobbycraft canopy... Big mistake. The plastic is brittle, and quickly cracked down the middle. So, I've reached the point of no return; the kit's original canopy lies in ruins, and the model as it stands won't accept my alternative canopy.

 

There seemed to be one, drastic, option to save the seafire. The Airfix Vb came with a spare piece which mounts the canopy (not sure the name of this?), so my best bet is to mount that. That meant tearing the freshly glued model apart, which only inflicted minor damage to the tail which will be easy to fill later.

 

Then...

CfSp4wu.jpg

Now there is REALLY no going back! It was only inevitable that my first Britmodeller WIP was going to end up at terminal stage...

 

Because I just won't learn, I damaged the brittle plastic of the lower fuselage a little in the cutting process, so there is a nice, jaggedy edge to mate the Airfix part with.

 

Nonetheless, the fit is OK. Below is a dry run.

0X0bFdK.jpg

 

I've glued this in and will do some more sanding in the morning. Some sanding has already been done to accommodate the new canopy piece, hence the weird bumps you can see. Those will have to go. Some milliput will be needed to address some of the more gaping wounds. We'll see how she looks after 12 hours drying time. 

 

 

Yes, I'm aware the canopy piece I've chosen to mount has got the rounded front from the earlier spitfires. Sadly, it's all I have in the spares box, and the end result will look a lot more like a Seafire than it would have done. Assuming we can even get it to the painting stage...

 

There is going to be something of a sacrifice to interior detail in doing this. I'm a wheels-up kind of builder anyway (which is good, because Hobbycraft provide the most basic undercarriage I've seen since I built the Frog Gannet), and plan on stuffing a big fat pilot in the tub, who would hide most of it anyway,

 

 

SO. I approached the workbench tonight thinking I'd begin painting tomorrow, and that the build was going oh so smoothly. I leave it wondering if the model will even get finished! Stay tuned... 

Edited by mahavelona
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4 hours ago, Nickthebrief said:

You've chosen a very good looking scheme to apply to what is, I think, the best looking Seafire/Spitfire of them all...

I do agree. The big, mean griffon engine looks great to me, but unlike some of the later griffon types, the XV keeps some elements of the classic early spitfires. 

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